Paper dispenser

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a dispenser system adapted for use near a restroom exit, the dispenser system comprising a housing having a first side, and a second side opposing the first side, the housing including a horizontal opening extending from a first end to a second end of the first side of the housing, and a hinged cover disposed on the second side of the housing, the hinged cover being configured to be an opened or closed state, and a box having a width that is slightly less than a width of the housing, the box being configured to be inserted into or removed from the housing and including a plurality of tissue papers configured to be individually removed from the box, and a horizontal opening extending from a first end to a second end of the box and configured to be in alignment with the horizontal opening of the housing.

PRIORITY

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/109,020, which was filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Nov. 3, 2020, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

The present invention relates generally to a dispenser, and more particularly, to a dispenser for paper or tissue, such as wax bakery tissue paper, for use as a barrier to germs on commonly contacted public areas such as doorknobs and handles.

2. Description of the Related Art

Prior art dispenser systems include the use of disinfecting liquid chemicals being either impregnated into a towel removed from a dispenser or sprayed onto the towel after it is removal from a dispenser. Those processes can result in residual liquid falling to the floor, which can create a slip-and-fall hazard for those subsequently exiting the room, whether they or someone else utilized the wet towel. This can lead to unnecessary, uncontrollable and unlimited building owner/manager liability, which in turn can be highly costly. Those costs could include direct liability payments to injured individuals, possibly resulting in increased insurance premium costs, and even the temporary shutdown of the room.

In addition, the protection afforded to an individual is likely to only be effective until the next use of the doorknob/handle by an individual who did not use a wet towel. Also, disinfectants do not necessarily kill all microorganisms, especially resistant bacterial spores.

Sanitary measures in public areas are vital for public health and safety. Such measures are lacking in places such as public restrooms, particularly with respect to dispensers when exiting the public restroom.

Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a safer and more convenient dispenser that better protects the user from possible contaminants when exiting the restroom.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure has been made to address at least the above-mentioned problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantages described below.

Accordingly, an aspect of the present disclosure is to provide property owners/managers with an extremely convenient, simple and economical dispenser to provide their employees and patrons with confidence and security to use their facilities while significantly mitigating the risk of infection.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, a dispenser system adapted for use near a restroom exit includes a housing having a first side, and a second side opposing the first side, the housing including a horizontal opening extending from a first end to a second end of the first side of the housing, and a hinged cover disposed on the second side of the housing, the hinged cover being configured to be an opened or closed state, and a box having a width that is slightly less than a width of the housing, the box being configured to be inserted into or removed from the housing and including a plurality of tissue papers configured to be individually removed from the box, and a horizontal opening extending from a first end to a second end of the box and configured to be in alignment with the horizontal opening of the housing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a paper dispenser, according to a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 illustrates an opened state of the paper dispenser of FIG. 1, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 illustrates the paper dispenser of FIG. 1 installed in a restroom, according to a first embodiment;

FIG. 4 illustrates the paper dispenser of FIG. 1 installed in a restroom, according to a second embodiment;

FIG. 5 illustrates a paper dispenser, according to a second embodiment;

FIG. 6 illustrates an opened state of the paper dispenser of FIG. 5, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 7 illustrates the paper dispenser of FIG. 5 installed in a restroom, according to a third embodiment;

FIG. 8 illustrates the paper dispenser of FIG. 5 installed in a restroom, according to a fourth embodiment;

FIG. 9 illustrates a paper dispenser, according to a third embodiment;

FIG. 10 illustrates an opened state of the paper dispenser of FIG. 9, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 11 illustrates the paper dispenser of FIG. 9 installed in a restroom, according to a fifth embodiment; and

FIG. 12 illustrates the paper dispenser of FIG. 9 installed in a restroom, according to a sixth embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described herein below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the specific embodiments and should be construed as including all modifications, changes, equivalent devices and methods, and/or alternative embodiments of the present disclosure. Descriptions of well-known functions and/or configurations will be omitted for the sake of clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to their dictionary meanings but are merely used to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of embodiments of the present invention is provided for illustrative purposes only and not for the purpose of limiting the present invention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Singular terms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. For example, reference to “a component surface” includes reference to one or more of such surfaces.

The embodiments are described herein by way of illustration only and should not be construed in any way to limit the scope of the present invention. Those skilled in the art will understand that the principles of the present invention may be implemented in any suitably arranged electronic device.

As used herein, the term “substantially” indicates that the recited characteristic, parameter, or value need not be achieved exactly, but that variations such as tolerances, measurement errors, measurement accuracy limitations and other factors known to those of ordinary skill in the art, may occur in amounts that do not preclude the effect the characteristic was intended to provide.

The expressions “have,” “may have,” “include,” and “may include” as used herein indicate the presence of corresponding features, such as numerical values, functions, operations, or parts, and do not preclude the presence of additional features. The expressions “A or B,” “at least one of A or/and B,” or “one or more of A or/and B” as used herein include all possible combinations of items enumerated with them. For example, “A or B,” “at least one of A and B,” or “at least one of A or B” indicate (1) including at least one A, (2) including at least one B, or (3) including both at least one A and at least one B.

Terms such as “first” and “second” as used herein may modify various elements regardless of an order and/or importance of the corresponding elements, and do not limit the corresponding elements. These terms may be used for the purpose of distinguishing one element from another element. For example, a first user device and a second user device may indicate different user devices regardless of the order or importance. A first element may be referred to as a second element without departing from the scope the present invention, and similarly, a second element may be referred to as a first element.

When a first element is “operatively or communicatively coupled with/to” or “connected to” another element, such as a second element, the first element may be directly coupled with/to the second element, and there may be an intervening element, such as a third element, between the first and second elements. To the contrary, when the first element is “directly coupled with/to” or “directly connected to” the second element, there is no intervening third element between the first and second elements.

All of the terms used herein including technical or scientific terms have the same meanings as those generally understood by an ordinary skilled person in the related art unless they are defined otherwise. The terms defined in a generally used dictionary should be interpreted as having the same or similar meanings as the contextual meanings of the relevant technology and should not be interpreted as having ideal or exaggerated meanings unless they are clearly defined herein. According to circumstances, even the terms defined in this disclosure should not be interpreted as excluding the embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a paper dispenser, according to a first embodiment, FIG. 2 illustrates an opened state of the paper dispenser of FIG. 1, according to an embodiment, FIG. 3 illustrates the paper dispenser of FIG. 1 installed in a restroom, according to a first embodiment, and FIG. 4 illustrates the paper dispenser of FIG. 1 installed in a restroom, according to a second embodiment. Since FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4 relate to the same paper dispenser illustrated in FIG. 1, these figures will be described together herein.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the paper dispenser 100 includes a housing 105 having on a first side a horizontal opening 110 from which each sheet of paper 140 (see FIGS. 3-4) may be removed. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the dispenser 100 is capable of housing boxes 130 of commercially available wax bakery tissue paper (or other various tissue paper products, wipes, etc.), which are widely available through a variety of vendors. The box 130 has a similar shape as the shape of the dispenser 100 except that a width of the box 130 is slightly narrower than the width of the dispenser 100, such as by a half of an inch, in order to be conveniently accommodated in the dispenser 100.

For example, each box 130 of the bakery tissue paper contains approximately 1,000 interfold sheets, dispensed individually from the opening 110 with each pull. The box 130 is insertable into or removable from the paper dispenser 100 when a lockable hinge cover 120 is opened. Standing on end, each box 130 is approximately 5% inches high, 6% inches wide and 3 inches deep, with the opening 110 horizontally across the entire 6% wall of the box 130. These dimensions are for example only, and the invention is not limited to these sizes.

That is, as seen in FIG. 2, the housing 105 may include the lockable hinged cover 120 on a second side opposing the first side, to allow easy access to its interior for installing and replacing the box 130 of bakery tissue paper 140.

As illustrated in the first embodiment of FIG. 3, the dispenser 100 is installed adjacent to the entry/exit door 150 of a restroom. As illustrated in the second embodiment of FIG. 4, the dispenser 100 is installed directly on the entry/exit door 150 of the restroom. The boxes 130 are manufactured with a perforated front (when stood on end in the dispenser), which when opened, allows for the removal of one sheet 140 at a time. The dispenser may contain a similar-sized opening 110 to match up with the perforated opening of the bakery tissue box, allowing the individual to easily remove one sheet 140. An antibacterial dispenser space 170 is further provided for use as desired.

Specifically, the dispenser 100 may be installed flush-mounted to a wall near the entry/exit door 150 of restrooms, adjacent to the exit as in the first embodiment of FIG. 3, or in the case of extremely limited or no space, installed on the interior side of the entry/exit door 150 as in the second embodiment of FIG. 4. The depth of the dispenser 100 may be approximately 3 inches, which is approximately the depth of the doorknob 160 or door handle.

Alternatively, the plurality of sheets can be stacked upon each other, and the box can be eliminated.

FIG. 5 illustrates a paper dispenser, according to a second embodiment, FIG. 6 illustrates an opened state of the paper dispenser of FIG. 5, according to an embodiment, FIG. 7 illustrates the paper dispenser of FIG. 5 installed in a restroom, according to a third embodiment, and FIG. 8 illustrates the paper dispenser of FIG. 5 installed in a restroom, according to a fourth embodiment. Since FIGS. 5, 6, 7 and 8 relate to the same paper dispenser illustrated in FIG. 5, these figures will be described together herein.

As illustrated in FIG. 5 in the second embodiment of the paper dispenser, a dual stacked dispenser 200 may allow for the availability of two bakery tissues boxes 230, for a total of 2,000 uses without replenishment. FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 have been described with reference to the embodiments of FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, except that FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 relate to a dual paper dispenser 200.

FIG. 9 illustrates a paper dispenser, according to a third embodiment, FIG. 10 illustrates an opened state of the paper dispenser of FIG. 9, according to an embodiment, FIG. 11 illustrates the paper dispenser of FIG. 9 installed in a restroom, according to a fifth embodiment, and FIG. 12 illustrates the paper dispenser of FIG. 9 installed in a restroom, according to a sixth embodiment. Since FIGS. 9, 10, 11 and 12 relate to the same paper dispenser illustrated in FIG. 9, these figures will be described together herein.

As illustrated in FIG. 9 in the third embodiment of the paper dispenser, a similar side-by-side dispenser 300 may also allow for the availability of two bakery tissues boxes totaling 2,000 uses without replenishment. FIGS. 10, 11 and 12 have been described with reference to the embodiments of FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, except that FIGS. 10, 11 and 12 relate to a dual paper dispenser 300.

The purpose of the dispensers 100, 200 and 300 is to allow individuals to wash and dry their hands prior to encountering the dispensers 100, 200 and 300, and to then subsequently avoid directly touching an unsanitary doorknob/handle to exit the restroom by using the paper from the dispensers 100, 200 and 300.

The individual (customer, employee, visitor, etc.) may remove one waxed bakery tissue paper (as a germ barrier) from the dispenser and use it as a barrier between the user's hand and the doorknob/handle, open the restroom door using the tissue paper as a barrier, and properly discard the paper in a nearby trash receptacle. The next tissue paper may advance through the dispenser for the next individual's use. A generic trash receptacle may already be in the restroom, may be purchased separately elsewhere, or may be supplied and/or manufactured to be compatible and integrated with the dispenser.

This product is simple in design and use, with extremely inexpensive expendable tissue paper, with multiple uses for very little cost.

This healthy system provides for a handy, simple and sensible means of egress from a restroom, or other room, protecting those individuals utilizing it, from the spread of bacteria and disease. The system is designed to allow an individual to confidently exit a restroom, or any other type of room so desired, without the worry of contamination from bacteria/disease inherently likely from touching the doorknob/handle of that room.

This disclosure does not directly attempt to eradicate the bacteria/disease. The purpose of this disclosure is to protect each individual as they exit the restroom, or other desired room, with the protection of the dry wax tissue paper barrier, which has a paraffin coating. The paraffin coating prevents any moisture, greases or other matter from reaching (touching) the individual's hand. The individual may then properly discard the wax tissue paper barrier into a compatible receptacle, which is either available as an integrated part of this invention, or into a receptacle already provided by the building owner/manager. The individual may then walk away from the restroom, or other room, with clean, dry hands.

The purpose and goal of this disclosure is for building owners/managers to economically provide safety to individuals who frequent their facility. With this system, only those who choose to avail themselves of this service will benefit. No subsequent individuals who use the doorknob/handle will be benefited or harmed by the prior individual's usage. There will be no residue, wet or otherwise, left on the doorknob/handle by the prior user who utilized the wax paper tissue barrier.

Conversely, with the use of the wet towel systems, the next individual exiting the restroom, or other desired room, without using a wet towel, will come in direct contact with the doorknob/handle, and will walk away with wet or damp hands, which is undesirable and uncomfortable.

Ideally, the best way to ensure that a doorknob/handle remains free of bacteria/disease is to have a monitor (i.e., an individual) stationed in the restroom to sanitize the doorknob/handle after each use, which would be prohibitively costly.

The building owner/manager's goal should be to provide a safe means of protecting individuals from bacteria/disease in a simple and cost-effective manner, with minimal maintenance required.

Each commercially available box of wax tissue paper contains 1,000 sheets of wax tissue paper, allowing for extremely minimal janitorial maintenance. The available double box dispenser (see FIGS. 5-12) would accordingly accommodate 2,000 wax paper tissues, making maintenance even less demanding, particularly in a high usage area, such as airline terminal. It is noted, however, that the disclosure is not limited thereto, and any number of dispensers could be installed.

The use of the wax paper tissues is highly prevalent and a staple in the handling of food, such as for the sanitary pick-up and handling of goods by sales personnel, from counter to customer, and are considered a necessity for food businesses, including, but not limited to bakeries, cafes and delis. If it is depended upon for safety with food, it is certainly suitable for use as a germ/disease barrier in this system.

The beneficial economies of this disclosure include the one-time modest purchase price of the dispenser, and the readily available and inexpensive supply of wax paper tissues.

Although certain embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in the detailed description of the present disclosure, the present disclosure may be modified in various forms without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Thus, the scope of the present disclosure shall not be determined merely based on the described embodiments, but rather determined based on the accompanying claims and equivalents thereto. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A dispenser system, comprising: a housing having a first side, and a second side opposing the first side, the housing including: a horizontal opening extending from a first end to a second end of the first side of the housing, and a hinged cover disposed on the second side of the housing, the hinged cover being configured to be in an opened or closed state; and a box having a width that is slightly less than a width of the housing, the box being configured to be inserted into or removed from the housing and including: a plurality of tissue papers configured to be individually removed from the box, and a horizontal opening extending from a first end to a second end of the box and configured to be in alignment with the horizontal opening of the housing.
 2. The dispenser system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of tissue papers are waxed bakery tissue papers.
 3. The dispenser system of claim 2, wherein the box is insertable into and removable from the housing when the hinged cover is in the opened state.
 4. The dispenser system of claim 3, wherein the hinged cover is configured to be locked when in the closed state.
 5. The dispenser system of claim 4, wherein the housing and the box are configured to be installed adjacent to or on an interior side of a restroom door, in a state in which the box is inserted into the housing with the horizontal opening of the box being in alignment with the horizontal opening of the housing.
 6. The dispenser system of claim 1, further comprising: at least two horizontal openings being spaced apart in a stacked configuration and extending from the first end to the second end of the first side of the housing, and at least two boxes being insertable into and removable from the at least two horizontal openings when the hinged cover is in an opened state.
 7. The dispenser system of claim 6, wherein each of the at least two boxes includes a horizontal opening being in alignment with each of the at least two horizontal openings of the housing in a state in which each of the at least two boxes is inserted into the housing.
 8. The dispenser system of claim 5, wherein a quantity of the plurality of tissue papers is about one-thousand tissue papers.
 9. The dispenser system of claim 8, wherein at least one of the plurality of tissue papers is configured to be removed from the housing and to cover an exit door handle or doorknob to enable a user to open the restroom door by contacting the tissue paper.
 10. The dispenser system of claim 1, further comprising: an antibacterial dispenser space disposed beneath the housing.
 11. The dispenser system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of tissue papers are stacked upon each other such that the box is eliminated. 